If the New Jersey Devils were just supposed to give up and roll over for the Los Angeles Kings, they obviously didn’t get the memo. The Devils came out in Game 5 and did the exact same thing they did in Game 4 – they shut down the Kings and lived to fight another day.
1) Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils – The credit for the Devils’ turn around in this series goes, in large part, to Brodeur. So, too, does the credit for the Devils’ Game 5 win. Brodeur stopped 25 of 26 shots, including all nine in a third period that saw the Devils get outshot 9-3. The win was Brodeur’s 113th postseason win of his career and the second straight game in the Finals that saw him give up just one goal.
2) Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils – One of the biggest reasons the Kings had been successful against the Devils was the fact that they had kept their big players off the board. On Saturday night, Parise changed that, tallying his first point of the series and also broke a five-game drought to lead the Devils past the Kings. Bryce Salvador also scored for the Devils, once again bouncing a puck off of the Kings’ unluckiest defeseman – Slava Voynov.
3) Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings – Williams not only scored the Kings’ lone goal of the evening, but he was an absolute force in all three zones for Los Angeles. He had three shots on goal, as well as missing three shots and having two more blocked, he was second among Kings forwards in ice time with 19:30 and he also registered a hit and a blocked shot, for a very productive game.
Play of the Night
Justin Williams took on just about the entire Devils squad on this beautiful play that ended with the puck in the back if the net.
Hit of the Night
Matt Greene lays into Patrik Elias with this humungous hit, sending Elias hard into the boards.
Save of the Night
Martin Brodeur turns away Jarret Stoll on the breakaway with this beautiful stop.
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